It changed my life!

Well I had my vocal assessment with our vocal coach. She is a delightful person and so intelligent! She has a doctorate in vocal pedagogy I think its called. She spent a half an hour with me! I am still on a high from the experience. First of all, as she had me sing to review my range, she stopped after I reached c or b below middle c. She said you have a true contralto voice! She said it is a rare thing. Then she related stories about Mary Martin as Maria in the broadway sound of music and about the singer, Marilyn Horne. She said,"Okay now sing in your choir voice..." I had to tone it way down and prove that I could sing a pianissimo. She said when Craig asks for the russian alto sound you do not need to darken yours at all. That was nice to know! She also had me sing a hymn a few times to check for vibrato,intonation,posture,jaw tension,head lift,etc. She observed that I had a lot of tension in my jaw by being too tense in my diaphragm, She was exactly right. I knew I had too much tension but wasn't sure where and how to fix it. She changed my life!!! In the past, I have had so many facial aches after singing, I cannot tell you! She gave me a good exercise to get used to feeling more looseness in my diaphragm. This is just a sampling of the things I have been learning in the choir! By the way , check out the article in the NY times about the choir audition process! Click here to see it

Brad's new Blog

Brad wishes you all to visit his new blog. Click here to take a look at it. This blog announces all the new and upcoming events on electronics. All the information on this blog is helpful and true. Brad is there to help you figure out what questions you have about electronics.

Beautiful Zion

(These pictures were recently taken at Cascade Springs)
Did you hear the Tab choir sing Beautiful Zion this conference? For some reason that song really was my favorite. Its hymn #44-look up the scriptures in Revelations that are listed there.I did this in preparation for conference. I truly felt the hope and the joy of the Lord's zion that is to come. I prayed that this zion would burn in my heart as it did in the hearts of my ancestors who left everything behind and walked and walked and walked.
M W arranged this just for my voice range. Unfortunately though,not really. Lately He tells the 2nd altos to sound more like the sopranos singing more in a head voice. I agree that the sound should be blended but why can't the sopranos sound more like the altos??? Its funny too because CJ's favorite part is the 2nd alto and he likes the deep russian alto sound. In fact, he has said many times that this section is the most important one in the whole choir. SO...I've decided that the 2nd alto simply must be the most flexible of all parts; at different times, sounding like a Russian woman, a tenor, an alto and a soprano. NO other part is asked to do that! I have definitely learned a lot in the past six years (this month) I have been in the choir. We are now being scheduled for vocal assessments. I'm looking forward to a good lesson!